by Ryan Gilbert
He swung his sword at Riggs, suddenly switching to an offensive stance. The Captain blocked it just in time as the two blades clashed. As the two weapons were locked together, Every used the situation to his advantage, driving Riggs back into a cannon.
“Surrender to me now, and I will promise you a place in my new world,” Every hissed in Riggs’ face.
“Actually… I think this world would be better without you,” growled Riggs, shoving Every backwards.
Not letting him have time to recover, Riggs snatched a lantern and bashed it over the skinless pirate’s head, driving him to the ground. As the Captain brought his sword back to drive it into Every’s skull, his enemy shot a blast of magic at Riggs, throwing him into the middle of the deck.
With a powerful leap, Every landed on top of Riggs, but the Captain was ready. Thrusting his legs upward, he kicked his attacker in the head, sliding out from underneath him.
As Every climbed to his feet, Riggs saw the yellow glow of magic swirling around his hand again. Before the monstrous pirate could attack, the Captain slashed his sword at him, breaking his concentration.
Both combatants pushed forward with all of their strength. At first, it seemed like Every was going to cave, but with a powerful shove, he knocked Riggs backwards, sending the pirate stumbling across the deck.
Riggs held his sword at the ready, daring the Arch Pirate to attack him.
“Is that the best ye can do?” the Captain shouted.
Every laughed, twirling his sword.
“You have not even begun to taste the full strength of my power,” said the King of Pirates.
Pointing his sword at the young pirate, he said, “Condescendere inimic.”
For a moment, Riggs thought that the spell might have gone wrong. Nothing seemed to be happening. The orbs of light that were Every’s eyes did not seem to move from glaring at the Captain.
Before he could even take a step forward, something bashed Riggs across the back. Both he and a smashed box fell to the ground. When the pirate looked around at what was happening around him, he could only gather himself and prepare for a massive assault.
Boxes… barrels… even cannonballs… they all floated into the air from where they lay, heading directly toward Riggs. Whatever magic Every had used, it was causing everything that was not nailed down to fly at the young pirate.
Each second counted. Forwards and backwards, Riggs dodged. Several of the boxes and barrels clipped him, temporarily disorienting him. As he ducked underneath a cannonball, he heard it crash through the deck of the ship. He could only imagine what would have happened if that cannonball had hit his head.
More cannonballs broke through the deck as Riggs leapt out of the way of as much debris as he could manage. Just when he thought it could not get any more difficult, a wooden beam cracked him across the head, sending him spinning off his feet. His body spiraled through the air, landing hard on the side of the deck opposite Every.
All of the objects hung suspended in the air as Every held them with his magic. Riggs tried to catch his breath and fight, but another blow to the side of his head forced him to stop for a moment and assess the situation.
At that moment, Every dropped his sword to his side, letting all of the boxes and barrels fall onto the middle of the deck. Riggs could hear the wooden boards creaking from the sudden weight that had been dropped on them.
“Captain, when will you learn not to involve yourself in my plans? I thought you would have learned your lesson from our last encounter.”
“You’ll find I don’t give up easily,” Riggs said, scooting away from Every as the skinless pirate stalked across the deck.
*cr-crunk-uuunk* SHGOOM
At Every’s side, a giant portion of the main deck collapsed in on itself. The Arch Pirate did not even flinch.
Still staring at Riggs, Every said, “Ignis.”
A ball of fire appeared, hovering above the red muscles of his hands. His fingers clenched as he held the fire at bay, waiting to see if his foe would attack.
Riggs fumbled for his sword, saying, “What’re ye gonna do? Burn me alive?”
Much to the Captain’s dismay, he saw a sneer appear on Every’s face. Laughing, his enemy replied, “You? Captain, you are merely a distraction.”
The cackling pirate stepped to the side of the hole in the deck and dropped the flame into it. Within seconds, the flame turned into a gigantic blaze, the tongues of fire rising above the deck.
As Every knelt down in front of a beaten Riggs, the Captain yanked his loaded pistol out of his belt. Before he could even use it, the skinless pirate snatched his wrist, digging his strong fingers into Riggs’ nerves. With a cry of pain, he had no choice but to drop the pistol.
“You see, Captain Riggs, I don’t need to fight you. You’ve been beaten ever since you resurrected me.”
With a wave of his hand, a jewel-encrusted cup appeared in Every’s grasp, full of clear water. For good measure, he kicked Riggs across the face, forcing the Captain to fall to his back.
“This ship, the Amity, was the next piece in the puzzle of my rebirth. It abandoned me many years ago, but now it has come back to help me conquer the seas. With a fire like that blazing behind me, there is nothing you could possibly do to prevent it.”
Raising the cup in the air, Every let ashes from the ship fall into the cup. As soon as they did, purple and gold spots appeared in the water, swirling around like a whirlpool.
“Here’s to your utter defeat, Captain Riggs.”
After a mocking toast of his foe, Every brought the cup to his mouth and gulped down the magical mixture. The ashes of the ship flowed down his throat, mingling with his grotesque body.
With the glowing orbs in his eye sockets directing themselves to the clouds in the foggy sky, Every chanted, “Cinis proditor consumus. Peto ut circa finem deduci potest humano repeto.”
The instant that the last word left Every’s tongue, the King of Pirates threw his arms wide open, like some unseen force was yanking them backwards. His back wretched as golden and purple tendrils of magic seeped out from in between his muscle tissue. It dripped off of him like slime, slowly coating every inch of his body.
Grabbing his pistol from the ground, Riggs took aim at Every. If he was going to end this, then he needed to make each shot count.
BANG
With lightning-fast reflexes, Every’s hand, still covered in the dripping magic, appeared in front of his face. Bringing his closed hand away from his head, the monster dropped the ball of lead from Riggs’ pistol onto the deck. It had not even harmed him in the slightest.
But that was not the only thing dropping to the deck.
The magic slime dripped off of Every’s body, revealing actual skin covering his muscle tissue. The new addition to the Arch Pirate’s body seemed to be a healthy pink color, like what Riggs would see after peeling away dead skin from a sunburn. The saggy skin of an old man hung from Every’s face now, the bags under his eyes showing his age. At long last, the glowing orbs had disappeared from Every’s eye sockets. In their place sat two grayish blue eyes with tiny rings of gold and purple swirling around in each iris.
FABOOM
An explosion from inside the hole sent flames spurting higher into the air. The shockwave did not even stun the newly formed Every as he stood above Riggs, his coat billowing at his side from the force of the explosion.
Twiddling his fingers a bit as he admired his new skin, Every said, “And now I am one step closer to returning to my old self. Next time we meet, Captain, I will not grant you an easy fight.”
Before Riggs could respond, Every disappeared in a puff of smoke, soaring into the sky and weaving through the New York streets with a dozen other columns of smoke. Riggs could only assume those were the remainder of his skeleton crew.
As he climbed to his feet, the Captain felt some rumbling below his boots. The decks were caving in as the fire spread throughout the ship. If he could make it off the vessel in time…
FABOOM
Another explosion rocked the ship, blowing Riggs into the air. He tumbled head over heels, the sudden chill of water hitting him as he plunged into the sea.
Almost immediately, he could see a figure swimming towards him, a tail swishing behind her as she reached her sinking captain. The mermaid grabbed him by the hand, hauling him up into her grasp. In the darkness of the water, Riggs could barely see her loop his arm over her shoulders as she quickly brought them to the surface. Above them, he could see the orange outline of the burning Amity, the fire and explosions quickly destroying the vessel.
Good riddance.
Breaking the surface of the water, the Captain gasped for breath. He grabbed onto one of the pylons of the dock, forcing air into his lungs as he turned to face the mermaid.
“Thanks fer savin’ me, Va…”
It was not Valera.
Ororis tossed back her red and black hair, floating over to Riggs’ side.
“Surprised, Captain Riggs?”
“Ye’ve no idea,” he said, climbing out of the water and onto the dock. He lay on his back, exhausted, staring up at the fog mixing with the clouds.
Julia wasted little time in reaching Riggs’ side. She dropped her sword on the ground, gently running her hand across his cheek.
“Are you alright, Riggs?” she asked, “Did he hurt you?”
Wincing a bit, he replied, “Nothin’ I ain’t come back from before.”
Coral Jack and Valera made their way over to their captain’s side as Ororis climbed out of the water. Hades and his hunters soon followed. Everyone kept looking around them like they expected the skeleton crew to return and ambush them. Even as they all lowered their weapons, something did not seem right.
It almost seemed like they were missing someone. Riggs’ eyes darted across the ground, searching for a dead body. To his delight, there were none. As quickly as he could, he counted heads, trying to see who had disappeared.
Hades and his hunters were all too obvious to miss.
Coral Jack and Valera were right next to him, as was Julia.
Ororis was wringing the water out of her hair.
Only one person remained.
“Where’s Eli?” Riggs asked his crewmates.
Startled, they all looked around, stunned by their friend’s sudden disappearance. Riggs let Julia help him to his feet, walking over to meet up with Hades.
When he reached the god of death, the Captain asked, “Have ye seen Eli, mate?”
Hades’ eyes shifted from his right to his left.
“He’s not with your crew?”
“Aye.”
A look of despair came across Hades’ face once Riggs answered. He looked deeply troubled.
“It’s not safe for anyone to be alone with a monster like Every on the loose. Do you have any idea where he might have gone?”
“Ye think I have any idea? I have no idea what he’s thinkin’. What could possibly cause him to…”
In a brief second of clarity, a surge of memories flooded into the Captain’s head. Everything that Eli had done during their last trip to New York was laid in front of him. Where was the one place that both soothed him and terrified him?
“Oh… bloody hell!” Riggs cursed, rushing away from the docks and into the fog.
He knew where Eli was heading.
Out of breath and panting, Eli finally reached the storefront. Leaning against the wall for support, he raised his eyes to the wooden sign hanging above his head, weathered and swinging on rusted chains. He knew that his friends would be furious with him once they found out he had abandoned them, but he had to do what he thought was right.
The crews of the Red Sky and the Flying Dutchman could handle fighting magic.
Margaret Stephenson and her mother could not.
Eli frantically knocked on the front door. He tried to be as loud as he could. He needed to warn them about the danger threatening the town.
Much to his surprise, the glowing light of a candle soon appeared inside the store, quickly moving towards him. He still pounded loudly against the wooden door, trying to sound as urgent as possible.
“I don’t care how much you knock, we’re still not open yet,” said a female voice from the other side of the door.
“You don’t understand. You and your daughter are in serious danger,” said Eli, pleading with the woman.
The voice fell silent, like it was contemplating the truthfulness of what the carpenter was saying. The candle moved to the side of the door and Eli heard a key turn in the lock.
Opening the door, Ms. Stephenson asked, “What do you know about me and my daughter, you…”
Once she saw who was standing in front of her, she froze in her tracks. The confused look on her face turned to anger. Eli could see her hands and head shaking from the pure disgust rushing through her.
Pointing to the street, she said, “Get out.”
“I’m only here to help.”
Not moving, Ms. Stephenson said, “Elijah, you know damn well what I told you last time you came into my shop. As long as you are a pirate, you are dead to me and my family. Now get away from here.”
As she started to shut the door, Eli kicked it open, ripping it out of her hands. The handle bashed against the wall, leaving a small dent. He stepped into the store, instantly feeling the cold barrel of Ms. Stephenson’s pistol against the side of his forehead.
Sighing, Eli said, “I’ve had a pistol pressed against my head before. This is nothing new.”
*click*
“I’m not joking, Eli. If you don’t leave right this instant, then I will shoot you.”
The carpenter turned to face the woman, resting his head against the pistol.
“I am the one person that might be able to keep you safe from what is coming. Do you really want to take that chance?” asked Eli.
“M-mother, w-what’s going on?”
Both Eli and Ms. Stephenson jerked their heads to the side, seeing Margaret enter the room. A nightgown and a robe covered the girl’s body as she appeared to have just been waking up. Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing her gray, unseeing eyes.
“Maggie, thank God you’re alright,” Eli exclaimed, disregarding the pistol aimed at his head.
Once she heard his voice, Maggie’s eyes opened wide in shock. The voice that she was hearing could not have been real. To her, it belonged to a dead man.
“E-E-Eli?” she stuttered as something caught in her throat.
“Yes, sweetheart. It’s me,” he said, coming closer to her.
The girl’s blind eyes darted back and forth, overcome with emotion. She did not know what to think.
“T-that’s impossible. I-I-I heard you were… you were dead.”
If Eli had bothered to peer behind him, he would have seen the girl’s mother reluctantly slide the pistol back into the folds of her dress. The second that her daughter had heard her former fiancée’s voice, she knew that she could not bring herself to pull the trigger.
“It’s a long story, Maggie. I just need you to know that it is truly me.”
With trembling hands, the girl reached out, desperate to feel Eli’s touch once more. Taking a gentle hold of her wrists, the carpenter directed her hands to his face, letting her feel every crevice, every bone, and every hair that was out of place. Maggie’s eyes welled up with tears as she felt the very same facial structure of the man who she had loved year after year after year.
She had not forgotten how his face had felt, even after so many years.
Wrapping her arms around Eli’s neck and burying her face in his chest, Maggie cried, “I n-never stopped loving you.”
“I know, Maggie… I know.”
Watching the two embrace for the first time since Eli’s disappearance at sea seemed to bring about a change in Margaret’s mother. A small part of her seemed like she was reluctant to accept help from a pirate. The other parts reminded her of the kind of man her daughter’s fiancée had been in the year
s past.
With a huff of breath, Ms. Stephenson asked, “You said you wanted to help us, Eli?”
Before the carpenter could respond, a startled and shocked Maggie asked, “Help us? With what?”
Holding tightly to the girl’s shaking hand, Eli replied, “Right now, there’s no time to explain. I just need to get both of you to somewhere safe.”
“What a wonderful idea,” said a mocking voice from the doorway.
Eli’s heart skipped a beat.
Slowly, he turned around, shielding Maggie and her mother behind him. In the doorway of the shop stood Henry Every, new skin covering his previous form of gooey muscle tissue. Behind him stood his skeleton crew, their bones jangling and their jaws cracking as they laughed along with their captain.
“What do you want with me, Every?” Eli demanded to know.
The Arch Pirate seemed a bit taken aback, pointing to himself as if to make sure that the carpenter was speaking to the right person.
“What do I want from you? Nothing,” Every replied.
He stepped into the store, confidence exuding from his every movement.
“You see, that is the problem with you and your friends. You always assume everything is about you.”
Looking past the carpenter, Every said, “Eleanor… how great to see you again.”
BANG
Every’s hand reached immediately to his ear, pressing against the side of his head as blood oozed out from between his fingers. Ms. Stephenson’s hand shook in terror as she held the gun in front of her, pushing past Eli.
*click*
She pulled the trigger once more, not even reloading the weapon.
*click*
With each step that she took towards Every, the look of horror on her face grew more painful to behold. Pulling the trigger was now just a reflex.
Tossing the useless weapon at the King of Pirates, Eleanor Stephenson screamed, “Get out of my life, you bastard! What more can you take from me? You took my dignity. You took my innocence. You took my life!”
As everyone watched, Eleanor punched the Arch Pirate straight in the face. It barely even hurt him.